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L’Entrecote, Manila: Steak and Fries Every Time You Visit?

September 13, 2010

US Entrecôte Steak with a Special, Secret Herb Butter Sauce & Frites.

The L’Entrecôte concept originated in Geneva. It is also the popular nickname of an iconic group of restaurants by the Gineste de Saurs family that serves only Steak and Pommes Frites (“french fries” in Europe).

Swiss Chef Martin Kaspar is always in the restaurant to explain the L’Entrecôte concept to diners. It is a local adaptation of the popular L’Entrecôte in Paris with its own special, secret sauce.

Did you know that he conceptualized the Stars of Giorgio restaurant? If you know Stars of Giorgio in Manila, then I can tell which generation you are from. 🙂

Chef Martin was bold enough to open this innovative restaurant in Manila because he believes that the Manila foodie crowd is ready and looking for it. 🙂

Although these customers are wearing long sleeves and ties, they are more the exception than the rule. The restaurant is actually more casual dining than formal.

The ambiance is similar to a European Bistro, where you can hang out around Burgos Circle.

The acoustics of the restaurant are pretty bad, though. You can hear the conversations at the next table. When all the tables are full on the first floor, the sound of people chatting makes you feel like you are in a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant.

The second floor looks like a better place to dine with a big group, and it is not as cramped as the first floor. At first, it may seem intimidating to explore the place, but the casual set-up will eventually grow on you.

The Bistole Bread is good and one of the best starter breads in town. When heated, the bread’s exterior gets crunchy but the interior remains soft.

All the variations of Steak-Frites comes with the Mixed Green Salad tossed in House Dressing with Walnuts.

Menu “Geneva” (P1,190 +10% service charge). Mixed Green Salad tossed in House Dressing with Walnuts, US Entrecôte Steak with a Special, Secret Herb Butter Sauce & Frites, Dessert of your Choice and one Glass of House Wine.

This is the complete meal with salad, main entree, dessert and wine.

Just a note: Don’t share the steak & frites meal because you will be charged P400 for sharing. Also, if you order two steaks, they would usually serve it on one plate if you are a couple dining.

The main highlight of Menu “Geneva” (besides the steak) is that it comes with a serving of house wine that is carefully selected by the Chef.

L’Entrecôte means sirloin meat, and it is served with thin slices of pure meat. Order it Medium Rare because our Medium order turned out dry and tasted well-done (maybe because it was served with two candles that heated up the plate).

The Special, Secret Herb Butter Sauce has tarragon as the main herb mixed with the butter sauce. According to the chef, the special, secret herb butter sauce has 20 ingredients. Can you guess all of them?

Vegetarian Option (P790 +10% service charge). Mixed Green Salad tossed in House Dressing with Walnuts, Frites, a Selection of Cheeses and a Dessert of your choice.

The cheese plate is served with Blue Cheese, Wine Cheese, Brie de Meaux Cheese, some Walnuts and Grapes. It was a generous serving and can be shared. We often order the complimentary extra bread to go with the cheese.

The vegetarian meal is also served with freshly chopped potatoes and the special, secret herb sauce. The fries were OK — they looked tired, with lots of wrinkles. The sauce is best eaten hot because it forms into a blob when it cools down.

L’Entrecôte’s Raspberry and Walnut Iced Vacherin Cake.

This is one of the most unique desserts in the menu. The raspberry taste did not seem to agree with the creamy taste of the ice cream. The walnut did its job in mixing the flavors, but I still don’t think it works for me. Check out the other desserts.

Would you keep coming back to this restaurant with its unique menu? Please share what you think of the concept in the comments section. 🙂

L’ENTRECOTE MANILA

A one of a kind steak and frite dining experience by Chef Martin Kaspar.

About me

Anton worked for the biggest multinational company in the Philippines
for 12+ years, straight out of college, before finally quitting his day job to become a full-time Online Media Entrepreneur.
OurAwesomePlanet.com, which he started in 2005, is the number #1
food and travel media in the Philippines which aims to promote the “Food and Travel Secrets in the Philippines” and to
inspire Filipinos that living in the Philippines is truly awesome!
Anton Diaz received the first Tourism Star Award for media by
the Department of Tourism for his valuable contribution in promoting
Philippine cuisine and destinations through his blog Our Awesome
Planet thereby encouraging tourists to visit and taste the best in what the Philippines has to offer.
Our Awesome Planet is recognized as one of the Top 50 Travel Blogs in
the world!

The P400 sharing surcharge is a deal-breaker for me: my husband, being on dietary restrictions, has to watch his portion sizes, and as a result we often share meals if the servings are large enough.
Having learned to love steak and frites during trips to Europe, it would have been nice to give this a go on our upcoming wedding anniversary. So why the surcharge? The prices seem reasonable otherwise.

i have tried the L’Entrecôte in Paris just a few months ago, and it was one of my best dining experiences. the steak sauce was amazing and the taste was unforgettable. the fries were thinly sliced and perfectly fried. in Paris, they first serve the salad with french dressing, then they give you half portion of your order (which i thought was already the full order), after you finish it, they come back to your table and serve you the other half of your steak and another mountain of fries! so the customer thinks he gets 2 helpings but actually its just 1 generous order. i love this concept because your food does not sit on the table so no sebo. and you get the next half warm and the fries not soggy. i hope they can do the same here in manila. dessert and drinks are ordered separately.
i’ll try this soon so i can compare if it’s as good (or anywhere close) to the famous L’Entrecôte in Paris. There, people line up for hours (resto does not accept reservations) just to get a table. i hope hope hope it’s as good!

If two persons just ordered one entree and intend to share the steak, then the sharing fee applies. It discourages this practice. If both of you order an entree then there is no problem and you can share the food.
Sent from Mobile

You’re lucky to be getting a vegetarian option at all. My question is why would you be going to a steak frites place when you want a vegetarian meal?
I understand the surcharge. It all comes down to the math of running a restaurant. With a menu like this, the owners have a solid understanding of how many people they can sit per night and how much they can expect to make per customer.
I really like the concept of this place. It’s restaurants like this that we need to push the culinary envelope on Manila’s culinary scene. Thumbs up to Anton for reviewing the restaurant.

@Anton well, I can see as how they’d rather sell two steaks instead of just one…*grin* But seeing how generous-sized the one steak already is, plus the frites, etc. I don’t think hubby and I will be visiting anytime soon. And for sure a restaurant of this caliber is unlikely to have a take-home option.
However – I will pimp out the place to all my steak-loving friends.
*grin*

The sharing charge is a deal breaker, where did they get the number Php400? restaurants that usually charge for sharing do it in terms of percentage and the norm is 10-20% only. Php400 is almost 50% of the meal which seems pretty absurd. How about options for kids? They should also add another dish to the vegetarian option maybe some soup or grilled veggies at least.
Nonetheless I’m still going to try this out! Butter on my steak… mmm 🙂

I would’ve probably end up eating alone just for that steak.
Thanks for telling us to order differently so we’d be able to get the cheeses shared =)
That steak +herb sauce looks promising… I can probably identify some of them but not all 20 spices

Looks to me like a real high end restau 🙂 Anyhow, it always amazes me when foreigners set up restaurants in the Philippines. Their menu exposes us to different cultures. I’ll try this restau one day, with my wife.

I don’t care how good their food is but I refuse to dine in any restaurant that penalizes customers for sharing. I should be able to eat what I want or share what I want with whomever I want.
This kind of snooty and unreasonable attitude is what dooms establishments. I give them one year, tops.
By the way, does anyone know if Upper East is still alive? 😉

Again, as Anton has already explained. they DONT charge you for sharing per se. They just want to make sure each diner orders at least one entree. If not, a P400 charge is employed. If there’s 2 of you, order 2 steaks or a steak and a cheese platter or even 2 cheese platters and share all you want.
I think the surcharge is pretty reasonable. Their prices aren’t too exorbitant and just imagine the overhead costs of running a restaurant in Burgos Circle. If I owned the place, I would not want a four top coming in and ordering one steak to share just to “taste” the food. Think of it as a way for them to keep costs down for everybody else. Without the charge in place, they would have to raise the prices for everybody just so they can stay profitable despite multiple tables sharing one order among two people.
I’m pretty sure Peter Luger imposes this surcharge as well and they’re a long long way from being doomed.

In Peter Luger If you order a steak “good for two” for 3 diners, if I remember correctly, you get charged a surcharge (I think it’s around $10) unless you order another entree or get the steak “good for three” or you order enough sides to justify skimping on the entree. I’ve been there at least 30 times and not once did I have to worry about that surcharge hehe. With food that good it’s really hard to underorder, I’m hoping i’m gonna be thinking the same thing when I try L’Entrecôte

Thanks for the review Anton. This place sounds like a fresh new taste in Manila. I have also eaten in L’Entrecôte in Paris and it is delightful. I can’t blame the proprietors for the sur-charge. The expectation is that every seat will order an entrée. The restaurant has certain built-in costs which are spread over every seat in the house. $30 USD for a nice steak for two. I don’t think that’s too bad. In Paris, you would spend $150 USD. I don’t know why anybody that doesn’t like steak would go to a place that only serves steak.
Not sure about the sirloin, it will have to be tender. But that’s a European thing. I look forward to trying this place when in Manila. Would like to hear about more good steak restaurants in Manila. thx

I was merely replying to your statement.
“This kind of snooty and unreasonable attitude is what dooms establishments. I give them one year, tops.”
Well Peter Luger also displays this “attitude” of having surcharges and that’s on top of their infamously gruff waiters. And nope, after several decades in the business, they aren’t doomed yet.
I just wanted to point out that, unlike what you seem to be claiming, having a surcharge to ensure that each customer pays for an entree is not a surefire way to kill a restaurant business. Not once did I compare the food they serve, the aesthetics of their restaurant or anything else except for the fact that they both have surcharges for diners not ordering an entree.

Hi Anton!
Thanks I really love your site! I could go on hours and hours reading your entries!!! Anyway, I have a complaint though with your new “look”… I don’t see anymore the other links that might be related to the page I chose… Sometimes after I get done reading a page, I look at your related links to check out your other reviews… I don’t know maybe I just don’t see where it is now. Ha ha ha ha!
Love your reviews and I’m such a fan! I will definitely take my hub to this restaurant so he could get a taste of what I raved about in Geneva. Thanks!!!

Thank you for your interesting comments which are most welcome and appreciated. L’entrecote is a dining concept which started 1940 in Geneva and then moved in the 1960 to Paris. Now you can find l’entrecote Restaurant concepts all over the world. The only dish which is served is Steak, Frites & Salad plus an variety of desserts and a selection of good wines. Our meat is a US Choice Sirloin Steak (200 grams without fat) topped with our famous, secret herb butter sauce and served with a house-salad, Pistolet bread, butter and unlimited fresh fries for P 880. If two guests would like to share this we ask for additional P 440.- . For this our guests are served two normal portion of house-salad, Pistolet bread, butter and unlimited fries. We are a lively casual Bistro and soon we will be open for breakfast and hold speciality food night’s.
Here another blog on l’entrecote which is as well interesting to read.http://www.spot.ph/blog/46379/food-review-lentrecote-at-the-burgos-circle
Thank you and we hope to see you soon in l’entrecote.

Thank you for your interesting comments which are most welcome and appreciated. L’entrecote is a dining concept which started 1940 in Geneva and then moved in the 1960 to Paris. Now you can find l’entrecote Restaurant concepts all over the world. The only dish which is served is Steak, Frites & Salad plus an variety of desserts and a selection of good wines. Our meat is a US Choice Sirloin Steak (200 grams without fat) topped with our famous, secret herb butter sauce and served with a house-salad, Pistolet bread, butter and unlimited fresh fries for P 880. If two guests would like to share this we ask for additional P 440.- . For this our guests are served two normal portion of house-salad, Pistolet bread, butter and unlimited fries. We are a lively casual Bistro and soon we will be open for breakfast and hold speciality food night’s.
Here another blog on l’entrecote which is as well interesting to read.http://www.spot.ph/blog/46379/food-review-lentrecote-at-the-burgos-circle
Thank you and we hope to see you soon in l’entrecote.

Thank you for your interesting comments which are most welcome and appreciated. L’entrecote is a dining concept which started 1940 in Geneva and then moved in the 1960 to Paris. Now you can find l’entrecote Restaurant concepts all over the world. The only dish which is served is Steak, Frites & Salad plus an variety of desserts and a selection of good wines. Our meat is a US Choice Sirloin Steak (200 grams without fat) topped with our famous, secret herb butter sauce and served with a house-salad, Pistolet bread, butter and unlimited fresh fries for P 880. If two guests would like to share this we ask for additional P 440.- . For this our guests are served two normal portion of house-salad, Pistolet bread, butter and unlimited fries. We are a lively casual Bistro and soon we will be open for breakfast and hold speciality food night’s.
Here another blog on l’entrecote which is as well interesting to read.http://www.spot.ph/blog/46379/food-review-lentrecote-at-the-burgos-circle
Thank you and we hope to see you soon in l’entrecote.

anton, i think you have to start writing actual reviews. Your ‘review’ just described the place and the dishes, you never even described whether the food was good or not. Did you even like it? Im starting to hate reading your reviews already, im not seeing a true picture.

We dined at l’entrecote recently to celebrate my partner’s birthday based on a recommendation from a friend and another blog writer. We really enjoyed the food, wine, ambience, location and service especially meeting Chef Martin and his charming wife Mitzi.
Chef Martin’s food expertise and his extensive experience here and overseas paid off with this world-class restaurant.
We ordered the “Geneva” option and our medium steaks were perfect along with the amazing secret sauce. The friendly wait staff kindly obliged our request for more of this secret sauce and their yummy bread.
We had a memorable evening with the gastronomic delight at reasonable prices- cooked and served with pride and passion by the very welcoming hosts and their staff.

If i’m not mistaken that “SECRET” sauce that they are serving is “Burre cafe de paris.” or known as “Cafe de paris”(name of the restaurant that started it)
Do you know if the butter is shipped form Lausanne?

Though this comment is very late, I think the Php400.00 charge for sharing is because of the unlimited offer of this amazing (not cheap to make) secret herb butter sauce and unlimited French Fries. I have eaten there 4 times already and I have seen the restaurant’s menu evolve. They now offer a la carte steaks and even fish! Being of european roots, this is comfort food for me. Menu Geneva and a good ice cold pale pilsen, sounds like heaven to me 😀 and to comment on Papageomel, the Secret sauce isn’t Beurre Cafe de Paris it has the same concept though. The secret sauce still remains a secret but i detect amounts of tarragon in the said sauce. Happy Eating people! Bon Appetit!

I bought 25 l’entrocote vouchers, we had reservations last night june18, 2011, i’m supposed to have 25 vouchers for dinner but prior to that we were advised by the manager that they can only accomodate 20 vouchers for 1 night. It’s my birthday treat for my clan, but as they said which was not written in ur terms n conditions , we can only use 20 vouchers. This is misleading bec u said we can buy as much as we can, sadly, i have to cancel my invitation for my brother n his family 🙁 , they were left behind.
We used only 19 vouchers , and L’entrecote gave us a seat at the corner, yes, one table for ten and another for nine pax. With inconvenience, they seated us with 2 long benches for the ten persons which made us uncomfortable bec when one person needs to go out, all the people at one side has to stand up to give way. Very poor seating arrangement, they should have given us only one long bench for that table and give the other long bench to another guests (of course not my party).
After the long wait of our main meal, on which my daughter’s steak has a piece of hair strand (of course we had it replaced) , here came the dessert, one table were given walnut n raspberry vacherin cake, and one table was not served with the walnut cake , we were only given a dessert with only the raspberry mouse type, meaning wala yun cake part. We complained and the kitchen staff came up to explain that they ran out of the walnut part. . Though the kitchen staff were apologetic , im beginning to get pissed off, bec i said “u should have informed us, it’s like shortchanging us, beside we had reservations so u should presume that u have ample supply for the desserts. Haaaaay! a birthday party supposed to be so much fun but turned into dissapointments.
Now i still have 6 more vouchers to consume , and when i get back there , i wonder if they would still short change us. I think the owner should know this . I believe in their minds we can be settled with short-changed desserts bec we only paid the vouchers with a discounted price. This is unfair to us who paid it in advance .

Tries to imitate the look and feel of original Entrecote restaurants in Geneva and Paris. Unfortunately that is where the similarity stops. For starters the Herb butter sauce which is the secret to Entrecote’s success is not the same and falls flatly short of the original. I know because I grew up next to one and have been eating it all my life. Salad dressing also is different and the composition has also been modified. In Geneva the salad is purely greens with out any addition of cucumbers and other veggies. The Frites or french fries also fall short. we were served big fat fries which differ from the shoestring fries are normally served. We actually had to tell the chef that it was different and they made the adjustment. I don’t even want to talk about the service which as far from fast…..
I haven’t been back since so I don’t know if they are still there maybe I will give it a go one more time to see if they have improved.

Hi there,
Sorry to say this but charging your customers PHP400 for sharing a meal is an obvious rip-off. I always eat at L’entrecote here in London and I always share my portion of meal with someone with pleasure. Don’t you think it would give you a better reputation if you give your customers the liberty to do whatever they want with the food they pay for…and besides, per order costs a fortune already and every person’s tummy have different capacity!!!

Surcharge of PHP400 if you share a meal?…bloody RIDICULOUS!!!…what do you think of your food…GOLD??? I have tried eating in many of the best restaurants in the world but never experienced this kind of nonsense!

had dinner here last valentine’s but the geneva meal was just so-so. i enjoyed the duck leg confit more than the steak. also didn’t like that they did not ask if were okay to sit al fresco when we made a reservation. the tables were so close to each other that i could clearly hear the couple’s conversation beside us.